Netflix & Amazon Take On India

Netflix & Amazon Take On India

both companies are approaching the country differently

Both Netflix and Amazon are both targeting the Indian market with their video streaming services in 2016 however, both companies are using vastly differing strategies in order to build their presence in the country. Netflix launched at the start of the year and currently makes content decisions from its base in the US in order to make sure any programming has a more global appeal. Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings has said that the company could not try to “out-Bollywood Bollywood”. Meanwhile, ahead of Amazon Prime Video's launch, Amazon Studios' Roy Price has been visiting India in order to sample local entertainment, in order to find more locally appealing programming, including the newly commission Indian language series 'Baahubali'. Analysts have said that this is likely due to the company wanting to more aggressively target local markets in order to build brand trust in India, and further the success if its online marketplace in the country. Amazon Prime will also be available at a far lower cost to Netflix, charging only 15 US dollars a year for the service, hoping to attract a much wider audience. This compares well to Netflix, which currently charges around 96 dollars per year to target what the company calls “western-oriented elites”.